USB TV dongle – recommendation

We held our first corporate hospitality event yesterday…it was tied in with the Scotland vs Italy rugby match, but let’s not go there.

Anyway, we used a FreecomUSB TV dongle, a laptop and a projector to display the rugby (England vs Ireland). There seemed to be a lot of interest in what I was using to actually receive the TV signal, so I figured it was worth making this post. An Internet connection was not required, nor was the need to be connected to a corporate network. You just need a regular laptop or PC.

This is the product in question, we paid £24.99 for it:

Subject to your region and a good signal, it’ll pick up the Digital Freeview channels, including the radio stations. It’s pretty cool in that it can project a TV picture via the laptop’s VGA port whilst leaving the laptop’s original screen free for you to use – great if you have a second monitor and just want the TV on in the background while you work.

We get some 82 channels using the out-of-the-box aerial unit – of course, your mileage may vary. Ignore the odd negative review over at Amazon, this unit works and it works well – if you live in poor signal area, you can’t expect wonders.

“A valid licence entitles the licence holder and anyone who lives with them to watch live television on any device at that address and on any device powered solely by its internal batteries away from home.”

…so, as long as I don’t plug my laptop into the mains… Although, that statement does suggest that my neighbours and friends can’t watch my television, as they don’t live at my address 😉